The Promise
by erinblake18
Summary: Merlin is arrested for sorcery and Arthur helps him escape. Oneshot originally written as a drabble for my Moments story. No slash, rated K for mild language.


**A.N./ Hello everyone! I was going to write a completely different story, buuuut writers block barricaded itself in the city of my mind and there is now a siege taking place. _However,_ a certain amazingly wonderful reviewer known as Aaronna told me that I should extend drabble #6 of Moments, which I did. So, this is a oneshot extension of said drabble. **

**I'm not really satisfied with it; it's a bit confusing and a lot AU. So...basically, if something doesn't make sense/is incorrect/is downright ridiculously improbable, blame on the fact that I've only seen four episodes of Merlin. (I know it's crazy that I write fanfic for it when I've seen so little of it, but hey, I fell in love.) And yes, I know my ten-second OC is terrible. I can't help it, sorry. I had to give Uther a tip somehow. Sorry again for the pain of cheesy OC ahead.**

 **Aaronna, this is for you. And on that note I end this uber-long A.N. and move on to my extension of The Promise.**

* * *

Merlin pulled himself out of bed with more effort than he usually put forth and winced as his bare feet stuck the floor.

It was unnaturally cold, even for December, and the stone felt like ice on the skin. He shivered thoroughly and tiptoed as quickly as possible to where he had kicked his boots the previous night.

As he was rather ungracefully pulling them on, Gaius called up from the main room of his chambers. "Merlin, come down. You're going to be later than usual."

"Coming!" he yelled back, wobbling on one leg while he finished applying the boot and snatching a neckerchief from the floor with his spare hand. He half-fell, caught himself, and hopped out the door as he tied the bit of red cloth around his neck.

"Good morning," he said chipperly as he plopped into his seat at the table.

"There's no time for breakfast," Gaius said without taking his attention from the potion he was mixing. "You should have been in Arthur's chambers nearly two hours ago."

The boy's eyebrows lifted. "I'm that late?" He stood up without waiting for an answer and made for the door. "He's going to kill me."

Gaius chuckled as he left and made a mental note to bluff about the time more often.

* * *

"My lord," the man intoned perfectly, bowing just deep enough to be respectful. "I serve only you; you know this. I would not lie to you about something so...serious." He smiled slightly, yellowed teeth curling behind his lips.

"And how would you know these things, Lord Ryon?" Uther bit out furiously.

Ryon inclined his head upwards in a gesture of confidence. "I have seen him myself, my lord. What with my testimony and my original source's, surely you have more than enough proof to convict him."

"Indeed." The king's eyes narrowed slightly and he stood from his throne. "I have known for some time that the boy was different. I see now what makes him so." He nodded briefly at the guards standing at the door.

"Find my son's manservant."

* * *

"Ow!"

"Oh, come on, Merlin," Arthur grinned wickedly as he swung his mace about while his servant tried to regain his balance. "Here I thought you had been improving. I guess not." He sighed over-dramatically. "I suppose that means we'll have to work harder."

Merlin glared at him. "You sure you can keep it up long enough to improve me?" he said sarcastically.

"Good point. You're too hard to train." The prince stopped swinging the mace and let it fall to the ground. "Let's get some water, I'm thirsty."

Merlin nodded and dropped his shield before turning to follow the prince to the well. Halfway there Arthur pulled him into a headlock. "Did you honestly think I'd let you get away that easily?"

"Ow! Let go of me, clotpole!" Merlin tried to hide his laugh and attempted to squirm out of Arthur's grip.

Their horseplay was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat loudly. The two young men froze and gazed questioningly at the two knights flanking them. Arthur released Merlin and they immediately stepped forward to grab the boy's arms.

"Hey, what's going on?" the prince blurted, stepping forward to pull his servant away.

"We've been ordered by the king to arrest him," one of the knights said.

A look of terror crossed Merlin's face.

"For what?" Arthur asked, anger coloring his features. "He hasn't done anything wrong!"

The guards looked at each other briefly before grabbing the warlock again and binding his hands behind him. "Sorcery, sire."

Frozen where he stood, the prince gaped at them as they led his manservant away.

* * *

 _How did he find out?_

That one question was all Merlin could coherently think about. He had been careful—even more so lately—and no one had tried to kill Arthur for at least a week...he didn't think he had even _used_ magic for several days...

So how the hell had Uther found out?

The knights who had arrested him handed him over to the guards in the dungeons, telling them to put him in the 'sorcerers cell' and make sure he was well secured. The guards looked at him quizzically, but did as they were told. He was promptly thrown in a cell he didn't even know existed, and bound with magical chains. He was surprised Uther condoned the use of them, even if they were pretty much necessary, seeing as how most sorcerers would just break out with magic.

He watched morosely as the guards left and then buried his head in his hands. God, he was going to die. This was the worst day ever.

* * *

Arthur hated sneaking around.

It felt dishonest, slightly creepy and very uncomfortable. He hated being quiet, he hated tiptoeing and staying in the shadows. He absolutely hated sneaking around.

But right now, he didn't exactly have a choice.

This was _Merlin,_ after all.

It wasn't like he was going to leave him in that hole.

So he snuck around, slipping through the shadows through the dungeons, searching for the cell that held his manservant captive. He was having trouble finding it and that added to his annoyance. "Dammit, Merlin, where are you?" he hissed quietly.

A shuffling sound came from the cell at the end of the hall. "Arthur?" Merlin whispered loudly.

The prince made his way to the cell and clutched at the bars. He could barely see the emancipated form of his friend huddled in the corner. "Merlin!"

The boy in the cell sat up straighter and peered in the direction of the door. "What're you doing here, you prat?"

"What do you think?" Arthur scoffed and rummaged for the keys he had lifted off the guards earlier. "I'm getting you out of here." He tried a key in the lock and discarded it when it became obvious it wasn't the right one.

"You can't," Merlin protested quickly. "Your father will kill you."

"My _father_ doesn't have to know." Another key was inserted and rejected, and another.

"He sentenced me to die, Arthur. I can't just disappear."

"Yes, you can, and you will. Damn these keys."

Merlin rolled his eyes from his spot on the floor. "So why is the prince of Camelot rescuing his idiot manservant?"

" _Because,_ you idiot, there's no solid proof against you and without it you can't be legally killed. Though father seems to have forgotten that. I'm just reminding him." A key finally fit, and with a scraping sound and a jerk, Arthur had the door open. He stepped inside and knelt next to his servant to fiddle with the chains.

Merlin pulled his bound hands back in a weak attempt to keep them away from the prince. "How do you know there's no proof? Who accused me?"

Arthur shook his head. "Some noble from a wealthy township to the west. Lord...Ryon, I think it was. He's a bootlicker. I'll bet my sword he's only trying to get on father's good side."

"Did he...how did he say he knows?" Merlin licked his dry lips, looking inexplicably nervous as he did so.

"About your magic? He says he saw you, one day, in the forest. Talking to a dragon, of all things. I can't believe father fell for that, he knows better than anyone that all the dragons were killed off—"

"Arthur, that's not exactly true," Merlin said quietly.

Arthur's eyebrows lifted slightly. "What do you mean?"

"The dragon...Uther didn't kill it."

" _What?"_

"He imprisoned it under the dungeons," Merlin continued cautiously. "It was there for twenty years."

Arthur glanced down, anger clouding his features. "How do you know this? Had you been consorting with it?" He looked up again and searched Merlin's face, watching carefully for any lies.

"Consorting isn't the word I would use," Merlin said with a little scoff. "Yes, Arthur. I have spoken with him...many times. I..." He took a deep breath. "I really do have magic."

"Magic." Arthur bit his lip, looking away and visibly trying to control the anger surging through him. "Magic." He raised a hand to his head and took a deep breath. "So Ryon was right."

"I've only used it to protect you," Merlin said defensively.

Arthur nodded heavily and stood up, making his way to the door and leaning against it. He held a hand to his head and shut his eyes tightly, as if to shut out the thoughts bombarding him. Merlin watched him and chewed his lip.

Finally, Arthur gave a shake of his head and straightened before taking a deep breath and kneeling once more beside his servant and trying another key in his chains. Merlin blinked. "You're—you're not going to leave me here?"

"You're not evil," Arthur said, trying to keep his voice steady. "I know you aren't. And you use magic. So that means magic can't be evil. Which means you've done nothing wrong." He finally found the right key and the chains fell away. He lifted Merlin to his feet.

"It's still against the law," Merlin said warily.

"It's a stupid law. Now come on. I'm not having you die because you're afraid to break out of jail."

Merlin grinned and followed his master out of the dungeons, rubbing his wrists as he went.

* * *

Merlin hitched his pack up to get a better grip.

"One thing I want to tell you before I leave, Arthur."

Arthur glanced behind him to make sure no one was listening. "Make it quick, you idiot. If my father finds out you're out of the dungeon he'll—"

The warlock interrupted him. "If you ever need me to come back, if you need a friend, I'll be there. I promise."

The young prince paused for a long moment before answering. "I'll remember that. Now get out of here."

Merlin smiled and mounted swiftly.

"I promise you," he whispered again as Camelot faded away.

* * *

Arthur swallowed thickly as he watched his servant—no, friend—ride into the darkness and disappear. He was going to miss that insolent, incompetent idiot.

But not forever. When Uther was gone and he was king, he would change the law. He swore it to himself, as he stood there at the wall and gazed after the fleeing warlock. He would change the law, and make sure Merlin fulfilled his promise.

It wouldn't do to let him get away with not fulfilling it, after all.

* * *

 **I don't own Merlin. Just in case y'all somehow thought I did.**

 **Thanks again to Aaronna for the encouragement needed to extend this!**


End file.
